Alison Harris

Alison Harris lives on the edge of the Laguna de Santa Rosa, a wild space between Sebastopol and Santa Rosa, California. The leaves are turning and the vineyards glow with red and orange. The owls and sassy mockingbirds are singing their night song. " These winds, streams, fields and redwoods all gold and yellow, infect her soul. you can hear them in her music. Her debut CD, Smoke Rings in the Sky, is permeated by the molasses pace of Sebastopol life- from dreamy southern lullabies to lonesome drifter ballads," says Mike Rosen-Molina of the Synthesis.

She is the daughter of an elementary school music teacher and the granddaughter of an eccentric big band composer. She started playing fiddle at age five and blues piano at nine, taught by her dad. She was nurtured from a young age with studies of Beethoven and Bach, while simultaneously being exposed to artists like Ray Charles, Johnny Otis, Patsy Cline and Ella Fitzgerald. "Grandpa calls it the mad bug," said Harris. "The whole family's all got a little, whether you want to call it a streak of mental insanity or just imagination."

She began writing her own compositions when she was thirteen and went on to complete her degree in music from Sonoma State University. She picked up the guitar in her early twenties. In 2000 and 2001 Alison toured with international reggae act Groundation. She has shared the stage with Pato Banton and Gregory Isaacs, and has recorded in studios like Skywalker Sound with various artists including Marcia Higgs, Groundation, and David T. Carter of The Trailer Park Rangers. "Alison understands the most important thing: The Language of Song. Her melodies and phrasing are organic, natural, there is nothing pretentious in there. She has that remarkable ability to make you stop what you are doing and once again give your self into that odd little language that speaks to you like no other form of communication," says Carter.

Alison's songs have been influenced by contemporary female singer-songwriters such as Lucinda Williams, Emmy Lou Harris and Gillian Welch. Her music explores the strength and fragility of the heart. "Alison Harris sounds like a country songbird perched on Bonnie Raitt's shoulder. She sings about loneliness and longing with a grace and beauty that almost makes those things desirable." says Dan Strachota of San Francisco Magazine.

In 2007 Alison joined the family label Omega Records. "Smoke Rings in the Sky" was recorded in the Spring of 2008 at Different Fur Studios (Herbie Hancock, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, David Byrne) in San Francisco. The album was produced by Chris Chu and Patrick Brown (Tegan and Sarah, Gomez, Black Lips, Violent Femmes, Kate Walsh, Rodrigo y Gabriella). Of Smoke Rings in the Sky, Rhapsody advises: "Harris' cozy alto, and the occasional piano goes down like a Lime Rickey: refreshing and sweet, with just a little kick. Drink it up."